How to play hide and seek online, and what makes it work
By EggVerse · · 5 min read
To play hide and seek online, you need a shared space that everyone sees on their own screen, a fair way for the seeker to look away, and a clear rule for what counts as found. A video call alone rarely works, because you cannot hide from a camera you are holding. A game built for it gives everyone the same map, a countdown and a way to tag. The rules underneath are the ones you already know.
The classic rules in one minute
- Pick a seeker, often called “it”. Everyone else hides.
- Agree on the boundaries first: which rooms, floors or parts of the garden are off limits.
- The seeker closes their eyes at home base and counts out loud to an agreed number, then calls “Ready or not, here I come!”
- Hiders stay put. In some versions they may sneak to a better spot or race back to home base to be safe.
- A hider is out when the seeker spots them, or in stricter versions, tags them.
- The round ends when everyone is found. If the seeker gives up, they call the remaining hiders out.
- The next seeker is usually the first person found. Some groups pick the last one found, or just take turns.
None of this is fixed. Families and friend groups have their own count, their own call and their own idea of what “found” means, so settle those before the first round rather than during it.
Variations to try
Sardines turns the game inside out: one person hides, everyone else seeks, and each seeker who finds the hider squeezes into the same spot. The last seeker left outside becomes the next hider. Home base hide and seek lets hiders run for a safe spot once the seeker wanders off. Hot and cold has the hider call out “warmer” or “colder” to speed up a seeker who is stuck.
Why it is hard over a video call, and what fixes it
| In a room | The online problem | What a good online version does |
|---|---|---|
| A house to hide in | Each person is in a different place | Puts everyone in one shared map |
| The seeker shuts their eyes | You cannot check anyone is not peeking | Hides the seeker’s screen during the countdown |
| Counting out loud | Lag and talking over each other | Runs one timer everyone can see |
| Tagging someone | No way to touch through a screen | Gives the seeker a button that tags |
| Taking turns | Someone forgets whose go it is | Rotates the seeker automatically |
Incognitegg: hide and seek in a painted crowd
On EggVerse, Incognitegg turns hide and seek into a crowd scene. Instead of a wardrobe or a shed, you hide in a painted market page packed with thousands of eggs. One player seeks and the rest hide, each as their own egg wearing a red hat. Only hiders wear the hat, but the page is full of other red: awnings, bunting, balloons and flags. Every round is a new page.
While the seeker’s eyes are shut, hiders have fifteen seconds to walk into place. Then hold still. The crowd never moves, so an egg that creeps is an egg that gets found. The seeker drags a magnifying lens over the picture, zooms in for detail and cracks the egg under it. Crack a shopper by mistake and you lose a point while the lens shakes for a moment.
Each round gives the seeker seventy five seconds, and everyone takes one turn as the seeker. Hiders score a point for every ten seconds they stay hidden, plus two for never being found. The seeker scores for each find, more for quick ones, and a bonus for finding everyone. Two to eight friends can play in one room, joining from a shared link on a phone, tablet or computer. On your own, you play the seeker against five bots across three markets that get busier each time.
How to hide well, and how to find people
Most of the hiding tricks from real life carry over. Pick a spot before the countdown ends, not after. Your exact look appears only once on the page, but the game surrounds it with decoys that share its shape or colour, so stand among them. Standing behind a cart works too. Above all, stop moving once seeking starts.
As the seeker, sweep the page in strips instead of jumping around. Look for red that sits on a head, not on an awning. Zoom in only when something catches your eye, because a wrong crack costs you a point and a moment of shaky lens.
On a computer, move your egg or the lens with WASD or the arrow keys, press Space to crack and Shift to zoom. On a phone, use the thumb stick with the Crack and Zoom buttons.
Common questions
Can you play hide and seek on a video call?
Only loosely, because each person is in a different place and nobody can hide from their own camera. A shared online map works much better, with the call open for voices.
How many people do you need for hide and seek?
Two is enough, one seeker and one hider, but it is more fun with four or more. Incognitegg rooms hold two to eight players.
Who seeks next in hide and seek?
Usually the first person found, though some groups choose the last one found or just take turns. In Incognitegg everyone gets one turn as seeker.
What is sardines?
Reverse hide and seek: one person hides, everyone searches, and each finder joins the hider in their spot until one seeker is left.
For more games where the whole room plays at once, browse our party games.